Players switch positions
as spring football
begins
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
Pete Lougheed has been playing football since he
was in sixth grade and he's never played on the offensive line.
Gene Mruczkowski has taken snaps as the backup
center, but he has never played the position consistently or in a game.
These two men will line up at their new positions
for the first time today as the Purdue football team takes to the intramural
fields for its first spring practice.
"I think we're mentally ready to practice," Purdue
coach Joe Tiller said. "Obviously we have some questions we need to
answer."
One of the main questions is "How will Purdue's
offensive line fare?"
That question will take time to answer.
However, a follow-up to that question is "How will
Lougheed handle playing tackle after playing tight end the past two
seasons?"
"It's going to be a little different, but it shouldn't
be that much different," said Lougheed.
Lougheed, who will be a junior in the fall, has
put on 15 pounds since the season ended and hopes to gain 10 more by
the start of fall camp.
Mruczkowski, who will also be a junior next fall,
is the only returning starter. With him moving to center, the line will
have a brand-new look at every position.
"We'd like to not have to do that, but we have
to," Tiller said.
Purdue is in dire circumstances on the offensive
line because it lost four starters to graduation.
"The line we had last year was great," said Lougheed,
who did much more blocking than receiving last season. "We've got a
lot of young guys starting out but we've got a lot of real good athletes."
Freshman tackle Tyler Moore, sophomore guard Rob
Turner and sophomore Kelly Kitchel, who may move from tackle to guard,
are the likely starters for Purdue. Moore is 6-7, 260 pounds; Turner
is 6-4, 305 pounds; and Kitchel is 6-6, 290 pounds.
The senior starters Purdue lost are Ian Allen,
a 6-5, 290-pound guard; Brandon Gorin, a 6-6, 294-pound tackle; Matt
Light, a 6-5, 297-pound tackle; and Chukky Okobi, a 6-1, 316-pound center.
But Lougheed, who is 6-5, 285 pounds, said the
line should fare well.
"This is probably one of the more athletic lines
we've ever had, as long as we can get everything worked out together,"
Lougheed said.
Mruczkowski knows that last season's line had size,
ability and, most important, great chemistry. Mruczkowski, who has been
working on snapping three days a week with backup center Nick Pilipauskis,
said he's not worried about this spring.
"I know we'll work hard," the 6-2, 303-pound Cleveland
native said. "I'm not too worried about the talent; it's just going
to be the chemistry. It's probably going to be frustrating at first,
but I think we'll get there."
Mruczkowski and Lougheed aren't the only ones who
will be switching positions.
Ben Smith, who was recruited to play quarterback,
will move from safety to quarterback because he has a bad ankle. Smith
had surgery Jan. 8 to repair torn tendons in his ankle and doesn't think
he can perform the footwork required of a defensive back.
The starting linebacker corps has not been set
yet, and the coaches may move one or two of the quicker players to one
of the safety positions.
Since Tiller and his assistants came to Purdue
in 1997, they have shuffled personnel to try to get as much as they
can out of each individual.
That's been Tiller's philosophy for a long time.
This spring will be no different.
In other words, no one's position is safe.
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